February 5th, 2025
Principal Corner
Growing up, I did not have the privilege to attend Lutheran Schools until I attended college. There was never a Lutheran School close to where I lived. In Sunday school, which I attended every Sunday, is where I learned the story of creation. While attending school in lower elementary school, I was taught about dinosaurs, and all the different periods of the earth and how the earth was billions of years old and about evolution. In my young mind I never considered that these two beliefs where in contradiction of each other. Somehow, I just believed both, not taking into consideration that both things could not be true. I am grateful that my children attended a Lutheran School and were taught the truth about creation. And when evolution was brought up, they learned that this conflicted with our beliefs and that it is was a theory not proven even though many people speak about it as fact. They also learned scientific facts that support a creation and young earth belief. I am thankful that at Trinity Lutheran School, we are able to teach creation as a fact of our belief system, that we can talk about evolution and point out that it is an unproven theory that has some major points that have never been proven true and that we can relate our creation to the fact that God loves us and created each of us in a unique special way and we are not merely some accident, but are made for a purpose. We have been made for a time like this.
FEBRUARY CHAPEL - HEARTS FOR JESUS
World Vision Ignite
Each year, the Minnesota South District education committee chooses a project to support with their prayers and offerings throughout the school year. Hearts for Jesus is a wonderful opportunity for Lutheran schools and centers to support a designated mission outreach ministry.
During the 2024-2025 , our Hearts for Jesus project is World Vision Ignite. This program equips Christian educators with tools and training to inspire students to live out their faith and become world changers. https://www.worldvision.org/ignite/resource-hub/
ANNUAL SILENT AUCTION - SUNDAY MARCH 2nd
We are starting our annual auction items drive for our upcoming silent auction! Please drop off items you’d like to donate to the school no later than Friday, Feb 21st. Ask friends, family, local businesses for a donation to go toward the school and help our education grow!
We are also looking for help following up on donations. We send letters out to most businesses that have donated in the past and we need help following up with them in a couple weeks to see if they are willing to donate to our silent auction. We also need help picking up items businesses are willing to donate. Please contact the school if you are willing to help with either of these tasks.
PTL BRUNCH
Same day as our kick off to Lutheran School’s week and our Silent Auction, our PTL hosts a delicious brunch!
They are looking for people who have Thrivent accounts to get Thrivent Action Teams cards for the Brunch as it is a fundraiser too! See below for the sign ups for donations for the brunch as well as sign up for working at the brunch!
LOOKING AHEAD
All HOME games in February can be signed up for. We appreciate all of you that have helped so far! This all counts toward parent service hours!
Athletic Calendar is up to date! ALL teams have practices scheduled. CHECK THE CALENDAR HERE . ALL AWAY games will have a bus!
KINDERGARTEN ROUND UP - March 13th
CHOIR DATES have been added to the Google Calendar and the interactive calendar below. K-2 in Feb, ALL School in March at Lutheran School’s Week Kick Off, 6-8 Choir in April, 3-5 Choir in May.
BUS DRIVER APPRECIATION - is on Wednesday, Feb 19th. Make sure to thank you bus driver that day!
SILENT AUCTION & PTL BRUNCH - THE KICK OF TO LUTHERAN SCHOOLS WEEK - Sunday, March 2nd - SAVE THE DATE
SAVE THE DATE - TRIBUTE TO TRINITY WILL BE FRIDAY APRIL 4th - Lots of fun and service hours can be attained by being a part of the committee. Anyone interested in joining the committee for Tribute to Trinity should contact the school.
SAVE THE DATE - VBS - JULY 28th - AUGUST 1ST
TRIBUTE TO TRINITY - APRIL 4th
SAVE THE DATE
Get ready for a rockin’ good time at the 11th Annual Tribute to Trinity. More details to come!
REMEMBER: Don’t send your kid to school sick!
With it being that time of year, where illness is going around, please give your kids the time they need to recover at home. Not only is this better for them, it keeps the virus they have from spreading to other students. It doesn’t feel fair that your kid is ill but if you can help prevent the spread, that is helpful. Keep in mind our illness policy. It can be found on the website under the Parent tab and also in our handbook.
TLS Illness Policies
Wondering when you can send your child to school if they have been sick?
If you can answer “No” to all of the following questions, then they are able to come back. If you have any questions, please contact the school office:
Has the student…..
had a fever of 100 degrees or higher in the last 24 hours?
taken fever reducing medication in the last 24 hours?
had diarrhea in the last 24 hours?
had any vomiting in the last 24 hours?
taken any medication to help reduce diarrhea or vomiting in the last 24 hours?
been given a medication by the doctor for any of the following: pink eye, strep throat, or contagious rashes in less than 24 hours?
tested positive for COVID within the last 5 days?
GOT BASKETBALL PHOTOS?
Looking for any and all photos of the basketball season so far! We’d love some action shots! Please upload to this Google Album or send them to tlsinfo@trinityschools.us.
Calling all FB users. We need your help! You will notice that we are beefing up our Facebook presence (Instagram soon) and while we work hard to put the content up, it’s you that can make the REAL difference. When you see TLS posts, please take a minute to LIKE, COMMENT on, or SHARE the content. Every time you engage with our FB page it spreads our message further and further. We have something so special here at Trinity and we want everyone to know about it.
PARENT CORNER
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YOUR RESOURCE CENTER
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PARENT CORNER +++ YOUR RESOURCE CENTER +++
Great Communication Tool + More
A lot of staff and parents love using Procare. It’s a great communication tool AND it serves multiple purposes for staff and behind the scenes tracking. It is the required sign in and out needed for our Childcare/Preschool and our SAC programs. It is a great way to calculate and bill and get other invoices paid from families! It has helped streamline many processes for us. One this it is not, is an EMERGENT messaging system. Please, and this has always been the case, if you have a last minute change or message to get to your children, try to call the school and do not be afraid to leave a message. A Procare message is not an alert system for last minute changes. We want our teachers teaching, not staring at their phones for notifications constantly. We encourage you to use it for everything else.
Parent Service Hours
Trinity Lutheran School would not run or function without our families and all your hard work! We strive on showing our students a great work ethic and a drive to help and volunteer! Because of this, we ask that each family completes 10 hours of volunteer hours throughout the school year (if you only have a child in the Preschool, we only ask you complete 5 hours). Many events put on by PTL, Athletics and just helping around at the school provide plenty of opportunity to help out! Please don’t hesitate to check out the volunteer page on the website: https://seal-leopard-8yt2.squarespace.com/volunteer
NEED VOLUNTEER HOURS???
CHECK HERE
HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR CHILDREN
WITHOUT NAGGING
Where do you turn to know if a movie, book or other media is appropriate for my child? One place you can check is Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org/, the website lists age levels for books, TV, movies, games podcasts and apps. Check it out at the link.
DOOR CODES
SIDE DOOR USED FOR SAC IS LOCKED!
IF you are not picking your child up and someone else on your list is, please let us know ahead of time so we can get them a door code. If you did not get a code and your child is not a regular, please contact the office for a code BEFORE your child will be attending SAC.
Preschool Parents, PLEASE USE YOUR code before school (before 8:10 am) and after school (after 3:15 pm). The teachers should not and cannot leave the students they are in charge of to open the door. This is why we got a code system, to increase safety in our before and after school programs.
WEEKLY REMINDERS
When calling the school, please leave a voicemail if we don’t answer. If the phone is not answered, we are on another call or just a few minutes away from the phone. Voicemail is something that gets checked immediately up return to the office.
If you arrive or your children arrive after 8:20, please have them report to the office. We still appreciate them getting signed in with the Procare App but we need a report to the office first. Thankyou.
Please be mindful and help reduce interruptions. If you arrive at the school - go to the office. We will grab the student or deliver an item or message. You may think it’s just a quick visit or you are doing no harm, but a small view of a visitor causes more disruption than you can imagine. Please be respectful and check in with the office, even if the class or teacher, knows you are coming.
Make sure you are notifying the school via Procare or email that your child is leaving early ahead of time or will be absent. We can coordinate best and make the most of your time if we can plan ahead. Middle school schedules are very different than they have been so knowing ahead of time will help reduce delays for everyone.
Jacqie leaves for a break between 11:15 - 12:00 every day. Please try to avoid stopping by at those times if you can help it. If you do, please be patient and wait outside while she answers the doorbell and talks to you via the intercom. Sometimes directions need to be given or information needs to be gathered, so please do not expect other staff to open the door for you. They have their own jobs, caring for their students.
If you are here to pick up your children early or have something to drop off to them, please help minimize interruptions in the classroom by stopping by the office. Same goes with dropping things off for teachers, please stop in the office.
Please wait outside the school until 3:05 pm and have your children come to you EXCEPT for Preschool parents.
Make sure that you are paying Tuition in separate payments from SAC/WAC care. Tuition is reported differently than childcare for taxes. Therefore we ask you do not lump them together when making payments so that we can accurately report your totals at the end of the year. Preschool however, is reportable on taxes as a childcare expense.
Share Your Photos
We are always on the lookout for photos to put in the yearbook and you could’ve captured a great one! Below are the links to add photos to two of our Google Photo Albums! One for the Fun Run and one for everything else! Please don’t hesitate to share! We can always use more photos in the yearbook! This is for staff and parents!
SAC - School Age Care
Welcome back! We are excited to provide care for your kiddos after school this year. SAC hours are from 3:05-5:30pm. Snack and homework help will be provided daily for kids who are here after 4 pm. When picking up, look for the posted sign on the side sac entrance so you can find our location.
What is SAC? SAC is before and after school care for all students, K-8. (Preschool has a separate before and after program, because they have their own childcare license). If you signed up for it during registration, you are all set! You just need to let us know if your child is a regular or not and we have heard from most of you.
If you did not sign up for SAC, here some more information:
AM SAC - just give us a heads up you’ll be using it and show up! AM SAC is from 7:00 am - 7:45 AM. Enter through the gym doors and please sign your child in using the Procare App. ALL students should enter through the gym doors if at school before 8:10 am.
PM SAC - We are available, but because it is after school, with limited staff, we still need to be in a safe student/adult ratio. We request, wherever possible, it be asked about your child getting added to PM SAC a week prior so we can ensure to have enough staff, deadline the Friday before the week you request your child to attend. We do understand that some things happen last minute and we will always try to accommodate. Please check with the school office before you send your child to SAC.
UPCOMING EVENTS!!! See Calendar below! You can also check out the Google Calendar under Parents > School Calendar to subscribe.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
PALMER BUS IS LOOKING FOR DRIVERS
Contact Tim Engel for more information. They need drivers for regular routes and possibilities for more hours with other trips!
Tim Engel
JWP - Site Manager
(o) 507.481.6678
(e) time@palmerbusservice.com
